You don't even know who they are, love - A Sept '19 Honeymoon 2.0 Trip!(Completed 1/18)

PassedTheEndorMoon

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 9, 2018
Greetings internet strangers and fellow Disney fans! We have recently returned from our second WDW trip, and had so much fun sharing our first trip report with you (which you can read all about here!) that we are back to tell you more stories about drinking on Disney property, eating off of trash cans, and surviving the Florida weather. As a refresher for those of you coming back from our first report and as an introduction for any new internet friends, here are some introductions:


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Who: Nick (me, a chemist) and Tory (my wife and a microbiologist)

What: A 6 night “Honeymoon 2.0” WDW trip!

When: September 20 – 26, 2019

Where: One night at B Resort and five nights at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort

Why: Because our Premier Passes were still valid, flights were free with credit card points, EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, and just because a Disney vacation is always warranted!


Favorites (from this trip):


Nick:

Ride: Flight of Passage

Park: Animal Kingdom

Snack: The African Spiced Beef Tenderloin from Food and Wine

Drink: Guinness at Raglan Road

Restaurant: Flying Fish

Lounge: Nomad Lounge

Resort: The Poly


Tory:

Ride: Flight of Passage

Park: Animal Kingdom

Snack: Roule Lard and Fromage from Les Halles and Donut Holes from Typhoon Lagoon

Drink: G&T from Barcelona Lounge

Restaurant: Flying Fish

Lounge: Nomad Lounge

Resort: Animal Kingdom Lodge


Tory and I live in California and have been going to Disneyland all of our lives. We, fairly obviously, chose to honeymoon at Walt Disney World! This was our first ever trip to Florida and WDW. For that trip, it made economical sense for us to upgrade our Disneyland passes to Disney Premier Passes which allowed us to be “bi-coastal” for a year. When we upgraded, we told ourselves that we would try and squeeze in a second WDW trip before they expire. Well, after having the vacation of a lifetime on our honeymoon, we booked our return trip in early March just before the 180 day mark. Tory dubbed it our Honeymoon 2.0! We originally had opted for a five night trip, planning on taking a red-eye from LA and landing in Orlando early on the morning of the 21st. We later, thankfully, decided against that, and opted to extend the trip by one more night and take a flight that would allow us to sleep in a real bed and not a cramped economy seat.

Joining us for half of this trip was our dear friends John and Josh. (John made a brief appearance in our previous trip report where he joined us in our quest to Drink Around the World!) John and Josh live in Manhattan and we hadn’t seen John since our previous trip. We met Josh for the first time, and as we learned, Josh grew up in Florida before moving to North Carolina and eventually NYC. He hadn’t been to WDW since he was a child in the 90s. He was excited to go back and do Disney as an adult (He came with the right people to introduce him to that!) John, other than his one day visit to EPCOT, had never been to WDW and so he was in for a lot of firsts! They purchased three day (non hopper) tickets. So as to maximize the value of them, we skewed a little more towards a park warrior mentality on the first half of the trip than Tory and I would normally do (but still left plenty of time for lounges and cocktails!). The second half of our trip was at a much slower more relaxed pace.

We tried new restaurants including Flying Fish and Toledo, made it to 3 nighttime spectaculars (which is 2 more than we saw on our honeymoon, ate our way around Food and Wine festival, showed up to EPCOT for a surprise Blue October concert, and even went to a waterpark! We can’t wait to share it with you!
 
Day 1 - 9/20/19 - Free Rice Krispies?



Since we were traveling east and didn’t want to lose a whole day in transit, we had to take an early flight. We had an American Airlines flight departing at 8 AM West Coast time (11 AM Orlando time!) out of LAX on a Friday morning. Given the absurdity of LA traffic, we had to leave our apartment, which is only 26 miles as the crow flies from LAX, at 4:30 AM in the morning. We had everything packed and laid out the night before. So when our alarm went off at 4 AM, all we had to do was throw some clothes on, brush our teeth, and throw chargers into suitcases.

Our scheduled Lyft driver arrived promptly at 4:30 AM. He seemed pleasant enough. However, his driving left a lot to be desired. He kept talking about how bad LA traffic is (which was obvious to us as we live there), and that he knew better than Google Maps or the Lyft App. I’m always up to hear about new routes; however, the route he took was much longer than the most direct one. I’ll spare the reader from me listing off a series of freeway names that will seem nonsensical to those outside of LA. The only reason he made it in the amount of time Lyft originally predicted was because he averaged over 90 mph and touched 100 mph on a couple of occasions! We drive aggressively in California. You almost have to; however, this was unacceptable and quite frankly, dangerous. We kept quiet in the backseat and counted down the seconds until we would be off the freeway and out of his car. He then had the audacity to give me his phone number so he could pick us up, outside of the Lyft app, when we arrived back home. Needless to say, he did not get a 5 star rating, nor a tip.

Thankfully, we arrived at the American terminal in one piece, two and a half hours before our flight departed. Somehow, our checked bag was overweight by 7 pounds (!!!), so we had to do some reorganizing. This involved me wearing my dress shoes with shorts. No pictures of this exist at my request haha. Fairly easily enough, we got our bag down to 49.5 lbs, dropped it off, and headed to TSA.


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Waiting only 10 minutes to get through TSA at LAX is always a win and before we knew it, we found ourselves airside with over two hours until our departure. Oddly, our domestic American Airlines flight was leaving out of the international terminal. We have never flown out of there so it was a treat to get to see the newest and grandest of the terminals at LAX. Unfortunately, because very few international flights leave LAX early in the morning, nothing but the Starbucks was open.


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We grabbed some drinks and breakfast sandwiches and parked ourselves by our gate. We ate breakfast while watching the sunrise over LAX. Our plane got towed in about an hour before takeoff. A gorgeous just months old A321-neo (Sorry, I love planes!) I had looked up that there are no in-flight entertainment screens on the flight, so I quickly downloaded some Great British Bake Show and The Office from Netflix to keep me entertained.


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We were the last ones to board, and no sooner than when we sat down, the plane pushed back and we were on our way! I alternated Netflix and trying to get some sleep on the plane while Tory worked on her dissertation. (Side note: she is defending at the end of this month! So excited for her to get her PhD and get out of grad school!)


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We landed at MCO on schedule, and while waiting to deplane, we overheard a conversation about LA traffic. Folks that aren’t from Southern California just can’t wrap their head around how bad it is. We can attest, it really is that bad.

We took a trip on the Fake-o-rail.


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We took a bathroom break before wandered down to baggage claim. Tory took a picture of the dog she saw in the stall next door, because it seemed like such a wild thing to see in MCO.

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It took 15 minutes for our bag to appear, and then we called a Lyft. For some reason, it took ~15-20 minuts to arrive. But once it did, we grabbed a Lyft and I was in vacation mode!

After an uneventul Lyft ride where our driver apologized about the “rush hour traffic” where we were driving 30 mph, we checked in to B Resort for one night. I love all things Mid-Century Modern and B Resort really hit the nail on the head in terms of that era of design! Our room was a bit dated, but it was clean and perfect for just one night.

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We got word that John and Josh were walking around Disney Springs, so we quickly dropped of our luggage, freshened up, and headed back out the door to start our vacation! Despite fears about the Florida humidity, it was shockingly tolerable for most of the trip. I learned that we actually arrived at the tailend of the rainy season, so the humidity was only 50-70% and we encountered zero rain on the whole trip! Tory and I enjoyed a leisurely stroll past the other Disney Springs hotels and over the pedestrian bridge into the Springs. We found John and Josh having a pre-dinner snack at the 4 Rivers food truck, and just like that we were reunited with our best friend. We caught up for a bit, shared air travel stories and began to get to know Josh. I let them know that Tory and I thought we could spend the evening at the Poly before our 9:20 PM reservation at ‘Ohana. It didn’t take much more than the mention of drinks in pineapples to convince them. We waited only a few minutes for a bus and were then on our way over to the Polynesian.


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Tory and I loved that we started our trip here last time, and it made sense to welcome two “newcomers” to adult Disney trips in the same way. We grabbed some pictures in front of everyone's favorite tiki and then headed upstairs to Tambu Lounge.

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The Lounge was hopping (It was a Friday night) and so we had to wait a few minutes to grab our Lapu Lapus.


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Once in hand, we wandered out to the beach, found some lounge chairs, and watched the sunset across Seven Seas Lagoon. One sip of Tory and I’s Lapu and the horn sounding from a Magic Kingdom-bound boat and I was at peace. I told the group that this moment alone was worth the cross-country flight. It was amazing to just put my toes in some sand, drink a tiki cocktail, and know that there were no responsibilities for the week ahead!

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At some point, I left the group to go put our name in at Trader Sam’s. I was told the wait was going to be about an hour, which was fine as we still had two hours until our reservation. I came back to the group and we just chatted while the sky went dark and the lights came on over at Magic Kingdom. At some point our drinks ran out, so we wandered back towards the resort to grab another. We stopped briefly to watch cast members preparing for a movie showing on the Poly lawn. Feeling cocky and full of rum, I proposed a $5 prize to the group to whoever could name the Disney movie first. John correctly guessed Aladdin just off of the first title card and I was left reconsidering my Disney trivia prowess. After that adventure, to quote Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout, “We got clearance, people! Let’s roll!”. With that “Aloha! You’re the next party to come inside Trader Sam’s” text in hand, we quickly found the unassuming door to Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto and immediately found that a shipwreck was occurring!

I cannot say enough amazing things about Trader Sam’s! I could live there!


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Our waiter was awesome and leaned into his role so well. He had us laughing as soon as we sat down. I went with my usual, a Hippopoto-Mai Tai, as did Tory.


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John, ever the collector of glow cubes, had a Krakatoa punch, and Josh got the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum. With drinks in hand, conversation became more lively, and it felt like we were just having drinks back home with friends.

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Although I made sure to shush everyone so that I could yell, “Two shots of rum!!” whenever there was a hippo hunt occurring.

After the round of drinks and a day of travel, we were getting really hungry. Thankfully, it was about time for our ADR. We settled our tab and walked upstairs to check in to ‘Ohana.

So for the second time in a row, our first ADR of the trip was at ‘Ohana. There is just a certain buzz to the restaurant. The sizzle from the open grill, the singer and his ukelele coming over the sound system, and the chatter of families gives this place an energy unlike many other restaurants. This time we were seated in the front section, on the other side of the reeds from Tambu Lounge. I can’t say that I enjoyed this as much, as it seemed like there was a disconnect from the rest of the restaurant. However, our service was much slower than our first ‘Ohana experience in this location. Instead of having food arrive at a rapid pace, courses/plates showed up in a manner that made much more sense. Between the four of us, and our alcohol-fueled hunger, we easily finished the salad, bread, and side dishes platter. The noodles were just as good as we remembered, and hit the spot after a long day of snacks/airport food.

Our server was very friendly and ended up bringing us out another plate of some sides that I believe were meant for another table. As I mentioned before, and has been written in every trip report regarding ‘Ohana, the shrimp was the highlight! I stuffed myself full of those beauties. The chicken was really hit or miss. Some pieces were tender and retained the flavor from the marinade, whereas others were overcooked and charred on the outside. More than likely, this was due to where on the skewer it had been. The steak was not great. It’s clearly a cheaper cut of beef used, and it just does not lend itself to being grilled. I spent five minutes gnawing on one piece, and pushed the other two I had requested around. Just as I was starting to feel full and sleepy, the bread pudding magically appeared in front of us. At one point I made the statement, “Bread pudding is God’s gift to humanity” (Tory won’t let that quote die). As such, the ‘Ohana bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts on property. We got an end piece this time, which I prefer, as the pudding tends to have a little more chew and you get the toasty bread on top. Obviously, it is a very sweet dessert, but it’s delicious!

Oh, and in all my rambling about bread pudding, I nearly forgot to mention that our server also brought out rice krispie treats. I’m not sure why we got these, or if every table did that night, but they were freshly made and tasty. Certainly a nice sprinkle of pixie dust! Who is going to turn down free dessert? ‘Ohana wasn’t on our radar for a return visit ADR until our friends decided to join us. It’s a pretty hefty price tag for decent/good family-style food; however, between the music, the limited fireworks view we had, and the endless meat, it’s a quinnessential Disney World experience. It’s so much more than just the food. We found ourselves trying to compare apples to oranges later in the trip when we would see the bill for ADRs where the food was undoubtedly better. But ‘Ohana, and the Polynesian as a whole, has a charm that you can’t quite put a price on.

Goodbye, ‘Ohana!

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John and Josh were staying at the Disney Springs Best Western, which we realized was literally across the street from the B Resort, so the four of us shared a Lyft back. We had some fun conversations about dating, marriage, and life in Florida with our 23 year old Lyft driver. Before too long we were back at the Best Western, where said goodnight to our friends, and Tory and I made our way across the street (illegally, as we found there are no sidewalks or crosswalks around that hotel row) and crashed hard in our hotel bed.
 
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Hurrah! So excited to hear about another trip. Loved your last report. So happy to hear you both loved Flying Fish -it’s one of my favorites. Have to head off to work now but will be back to read all about day one!!!
 
Woo hoo a part 2 . Read your first TR and looking forward to reading this one . Great start .
 


Joining in! I just read your honeymoon TR (not sure how I missed it the whole time you were posting it? lol weird how that happens!) Based on your guys' travel style I'm sure this trip was a hit too! Sounds like a perfect first day in Disney with drinks at Trader Sams and a nice relaxing dinner at Ohana!
 
I'm joining in! We were at WDW at the same time as you. I've never been to Trader Sams and really want to give it a try now! Same with O'hana... it's on my list for our next trip. This sounds like a great arrival day!
 
All caught up. I am with you on the toes in the sand, lapu-lapu in hand vacation feeling. Wish it could be bottled!! Sounds like a really fun night with friends.
 


Joining in for the second time! Glad to hear you had an awesome first day! With drinks at Tambu and Traders Sams, followed by dinner at Ohana, how could you go wrong???
 
Oh my goodness I stumbled across your last TR in my recon mission for our upcoming January trip and I am SO PUMPED you guys are doing another 👏👏👏👏👏 I really enjoyed hearing about your trip and all the drinks and relaxation. You're so sweet about Tory and you guys seem to just adore each other. So darn wholesome!

Reminds me of when my DH and I went to WDW on our Honeymoon and Anniversary. Don't get me wrong, sharing WDW with my kids is amazing...but so is getting buzzed at 11am without any responsibilites lol. Can't wait to follow along!
 
Hurrah! So excited to hear about another trip. Loved your last report. So happy to hear you both loved Flying Fish -it’s one of my favorites. Have to head off to work now but will be back to read all about day one!!!

Thanks for joining us! I can't wait to gush about Flying Fish! It was incredible!

Woo hoo a part 2 . Read your first TR and looking forward to reading this one . Great start .

Thanks! Welcome to Part 2!

Joining in! I just read your honeymoon TR (not sure how I missed it the whole time you were posting it? lol weird how that happens!) Based on your guys' travel style I'm sure this trip was a hit too! Sounds like a perfect first day in Disney with drinks at Trader Sams and a nice relaxing dinner at Ohana!

Welcome! Yeah, it can be hard to keep track of all the active TRs. There seems to be times of the year where more people are writing and things get buried fast. Yeah, the way my wife and I do Disney, it's hard to have a bad time, even when it's crowded.

I'm joining in! We were at WDW at the same time as you. I've never been to Trader Sams and really want to give it a try now! Same with O'hana... it's on my list for our next trip. This sounds like a great arrival day!

Thanks for joining in! Hope you had a great trip too! The weather was really nice by Florida standards. We didn't have any rain!
Trader Sam's and 'Ohana are definitely places you are going to want to try. I could spend so much time at the Poly!

All caught up. I am with you on the toes in the sand, lapu-lapu in hand vacation feeling. Wish it could be bottled!! Sounds like a really fun night with friends.

Right? I would pay good money for a bottle of that. One of the best feelings in the world!

Joining in for the second time! Glad to hear you had an awesome first day! With drinks at Tambu and Traders Sams, followed by dinner at Ohana, how could you go wrong???

Thanks for joining in! You are certainly not wrong!

Oh my goodness I stumbled across your last TR in my recon mission for our upcoming January trip and I am SO PUMPED you guys are doing another 👏👏👏👏👏 I really enjoyed hearing about your trip and all the drinks and relaxation. You're so sweet about Tory and you guys seem to just adore each other. So darn wholesome!

Reminds me of when my DH and I went to WDW on our Honeymoon and Anniversary. Don't get me wrong, sharing WDW with my kids is amazing...but so is getting buzzed at 11am without any responsibilites lol. Can't wait to follow along!

Aww! Thanks so much for the kind words! Tory is really amazing, and I am lucky to have her in my life.

Hahaha! If you don't have kids around, did you really do Disney World, if you didn't rope drop at least one bar?

Yay! I love your trip reports! <3

Thanks! Welcome back!

Joining in, can't wait to read more!

Welcome! There is so much more to share with you all!
 
Hi all! Sorry for the brief hiatus. Usually, I like to get my trip reports out much faster, but life got very busy! Tory officially defended her PhD, she started a new job, and we moved! All good things! Thankfully, things have calmed down a bit and we are back to our regularly scheduled trip reporting!

Now introducing day two!

Day 2 - 9/21/19 - Princesses are Classy!

I woke up around 7:30 so excited! We had made it to our vacation! It had been a busy couple of months leading up to this, so some RnR on Disney property was much needed. We had told John and Josh to meet us at EPCOT at 10. However, we had another stop to make first! While B Resort was nice for one night, we were itching to be fully in the Disney bubble and pay for things with our Magicbands! We snacked on some trail mix as we got ready and put a few things back in our suitcase. By 8:30, we had called a Lyft to take us over to Coronado Springs: our home for the next five nights. We booked Coronado before the Gran Destino Tower opened because of the promise of the new restaurants and lounges, as well as a great AP deal. We had heard so many positive things since GDT did open, that we were really itching to see it for ourselves.

Stepping into the lobby for the first time is incredible. It doesn’t necessarily scream Disney, but it does feel luxurious and like a high-end hotel in a big city. The Spanish-inspired tones and patterns really come through and give it a sense of place other than generic luxury hotel. Already, we knew we had struck gold because this felt like a Deluxe resort. We were quickly greeted by a front desk agent, and to our surprise, they had a room ready for us. All before 9 AM! The cast member welcomed us to Coronado Springs, explained the layout and where all the best food and lounges were, and confirmed our magic bands were working before sending us on our way. We were totally not expecting to have a room ready, and were just planning on dropping off our luggage, but it was a welcome surprise.

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So we began our walk back to our room in Ranchos 6A. Once you leave the back of the tower towards the rest of the resort, you are greeted by Lago Dorado and the large fountain, as well as the lounge in the middle of the lake. It all felt on-theme, as well as being vaguely Mexican/Spanish in style. Tory commented at one point on our walk that the resort reminded her a bit of one we had stayed at in Cabo before, so they nailed that.

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I had heard concerns online about the size of the resort, but we had heard them about AKL as well. That was a nonissue on our first trip, so we weren’t worried about this either. Yes, Coronado Springs is much more spread out than AKL, but the walk back to Ranchos wasn’t really that bad. Except this first morning, lugging a 49.5 lb suitcase with a bum wheel (Thanks American Airlines!). I was getting my workout in early while it was still humid, and I remarked to Tory about how I was already sweaty and we hadn’t been to a park yet. I managed, and soon enough, we found ourselves in our first floor room in Ranchos.

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We loved the room! It felt modern, light, and practical while still feeling on theme. I loved the shutter-style sliding door to separate the bathroom, as well as the sink and counter area on the whole. It felt more luxurious than we had imagined our moderate room would be. I can understand the concerns that it doesn’t feel Disney enough, but given the fact that it is the convention hotel, I understand why it was a little more understated. There were still two framed prints featuring silhouettes of The Three Caballeros, which we both appreciated.


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Of course, the other thing that draws your eye when you first enter the room is the large wall-mounted flatscreen TV that has your family’s name on it and welcomes you to Coronado Springs. The Smart TV was also capable of casting from your phone, which was great for the end of the night, when we were easily able to cast from the Hulu app on our phone.

Enough rambling about hotel rooms, let’s get to the main event! We didn’t spend too long admiring our room as it was after 9 and we had plans for the day. We grabbed our day bag for the parks and headed out the door.


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We were impressed at how close Ranchos 6A was to the bus stop, just a brief walk through the parking lot. We were the only ones out there and it felt very secluded. We didn’t wait more than a few minutes for a bus to arrive to take us to EPCOT!

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Along the way we were treated to some comedy, trivia, and EPCOT tips from our awesome bus driver. The half-full bus cheered when she mentioned Food and Wine, and (some of us) booed when she brought up that Illuminations was ending. She really did a great job getting us hyped for our first park day. I am very sad that I didn’t think to write down her name. She deserves a lot of praise!

Oh EPCOT, such a wonderful place! A true park in every sense of the word. We breezed through security, which was a shock compared to our last trip, and found ourselves quickly in front of the beautiful Spaceship Earth. John and Josh were already in the park, and we met up with them inside MouseGear. Everyone was hungry after not having a proper breakfast, so we made the decision, with 30 minutes until our first FP+ window closed at Spaceship Earth, to head to Les Halles for some pastries. I questioned if we had enough time, but tempted by the thought of fresh baked goods, Tory assured me that we would make it. We did make it! With two minutes to spare! At Les Halles, Tory and I grabbed a Roule Lard and a chocolate croissant.

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We grabbed our pastries off our trays and ate them on the way back towards Spaceship Earth. The Roule Lard was just as phenomenal as we had remembered. Salty and buttery goodness. It didn’t take more than a few bites for me to feel the stresses of life begin to slowly melt from my shoulders. Tory was very happy as well!



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Spaceship Earth was one of our favorites from our first trip, and it did not disappoint this time either.


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Knowing what was going to happen allowed me to pick up on so many more details and touches scattered throughout the ride. Please don’t ruin it, Disney! We chose a health-based future and ended up discussing some of the technology that already does exist and the promise of what may come in our lifetimes. Can Dame Judy Dench narrate my life?

Because we took our Spaceship Earth FP+ down to the last second, we were able to head directly over to Test Track for our next one.

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Test Track was done at Josh’s request, as we learned that the last time he was at EPCOT, Test Track was less than a month from opening, and he always wanted to go back and see it. Readers may recall that Tory and I aren’t big fans (give us Radiator Springs Racers anyday!), but will admit that we did enjoy the five minutes spent designing a balanced, cool-looking vehicle.

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It wasn’t the best car, but it ended up beating John and Josh’s design by one point overall. We did get to gloat about that. Not sure what I am looking at in the ride photo.

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Once through the design room, there was a bit of a backup and I ended up telling Josh about the Food and Wine festival app I downloaded to keep track of what I wanted to try. He got so excited by some of the options that he downloaded it himself and started reading menu items. We were getting really excited!

Because of the backup in the FP+ line, we were able to go right over to Mission: Space for our third FP+ of the day.

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I stuck with the Green mission and Tory joined me. John wanted to see how intense Orange was and convinced Josh to join him. There really wasn’t much of a wait and so we nearly walked right into the briefing room. Once the preshow ended, the doors in front of us didn’t open. We waited for several minutes with just the background com chatter and no indication of what was going on. It was a little unnerving because the group is just stuck in there with no cast member.


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After about five minutes, a cast member opened the door to assure us that we would be going in shortly. It was another five minutes after that before we were granted access to the next room. Really confusing situation. I was about ready to bail entirely. On the plus side, I was able to grab an immediate return Journey Into Imagination FP while waiting.

We survived our mission around the earth and waited out front for John and Josh. We’re not sure where they ended up. But we had plenty of time for selfies!

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Josh said he did not feel well after riding the orange one. John was nonplussed, but he actually went to space camp as a kid, so he had a better idea of what he was getting into.

We had intended to start F&Wing it up at this point, but I had grabbed the Figment FP+ because I got the sense that Josh would enjoy the campy humor of Fragment and Dr. Nigel Channing. Boy did he ever! I don’t think I have seen someone be so excited and laugh so much at the Figment rainbow room reveal. I always appreciate the opportunity to sing Just One Spark.



John and Josh spent a few minutes in the shop checking out all things Figment related. Tory andI headed outside to the popcorn cart to get our hands on the mixed flavored popcorn. Tory had really wanted this on our Honeymoon but they had not gotten their shipment. So, despite the promise of F&W, we started our snacking with popcorn.

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The popcorn was decent. The flavors were good, but I don’t think either of us realized that it is not popped on site and so was cold and starting to stale. I think Josh ended up finishing it.

It was finally time to experience Epcot Food and WIne for ourselves after hearing so much about it! Four years ago, they added a Food and Wine Festival to California Adventure. Tory and I find it a great way to spend an afternoon. There are only ~12 booths. We very quickly realized that EPCOT F&W is a different beast entirely! Not only in the sheer number of booths to try, but the crowds it brings in. We found ourselves trying to navigate thick crowds on the way to Mexico and saw lines for food booths that were 50+ people deep. Completely crazy!

Funny story, we were walking towards Mexico when from right behind me came this blood-curdling scream. I jumped around on instinct, terrified, to find a mom pushing a toddler in a stroller, who I guess just screamed for no reason. The mom saw my face and chuckled before saying “Family Vacation! Woo!” Hahahaha.

We were in the mood for a margarita, so we headed towards La Cava. However, one peek inside the Mexico pavilion, where we saw that the line for La Cava stretched all the way to the entrance to the pyramid, made us realize we needed to have some plans in place. Wandering wasn’t going to cut it today!

We settled on trying to beat the crowds around the world and so headed straight out to Germany around 12:45pm. Just before Germany, we saw that both the India and Africa booths had just a few people in line, so we started our F&Wing there. The India booth was out of the Chicken dish, so we ended up getting the vegetarian curry and the mango lassi.

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My notes say that the curry was good, but fairly tomato heavy. For those concerned about the spice level, it was not hot at all, just warm spices. The lassi was very sweet but very welcome considering it was peak afternoon heat (high 80s and very sticky by our California standards. I have since learned that only 60% RH is nothing to Floridians).

Next up was the Africa booth, where we were warned that they were running low on the corn cake that went underneath the beef tenderloin. Not deterred, we ordered it and the vegan githeri. Side note, we were a little shocked that at 2 PM on a Saturday the booths were already out of things. Seemed like a huge mistake to have multiple items run out during peak of the day.

While we waited for John and Josh to get there shrimp dish, I gave Tory a brief lesson in iPhone food photography. Trash cans make for great tables!



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Both dishes from Africa were phenomenal. We got one of the last corn cakes and it paired well with the beef. The beef was tender and well-seasoned. Altogether, one of my favorite F&W bites from the trip. The githeri was lighter, but still very flavorful and the beans added a nice textural element.

We then moved into Germany where Tory and I split the beer flight. We grabbed a standing table right next to the World Showcase Lagoon while John and Josh grabbed some items from the Germany booth. Despite the crowds, it truly was a beautiful day at EPCOT. I will never get tired of the view across the lagoon with Spaceship Earth looming in the background. Truly gorgeous. The beers were unmemorable except for the Schofferhofer that was way too sweet to be considered beer.

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White chatting and snacking, Josh mentioned that he really wanted to go on Soarin’. While sipping on some German beers, I was able to snag us FPs for three hours later without too much effort refreshing. This gave us plenty of time to complete the world showcase crawl and hit some more booths.

After stopping to get some train pictures, we grabbed a limoncello cocktail from the Donkey Cart in Italy.


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I can’t remember what else was in it, but it was way too sweet on the whole. Tory and I slowly choked it down while continuing on through America to Japan. John was very happy with his, though.

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We also recreated a cute photo from our honeymoon!

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In Japan, we got an order of the frothy ramen. It certainly was an interesting presentation!

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The flavors were good, with plenty of umami, and a savory broth. I noted that it didn’t really hit the spot on a hot day and it was a bit awkward to eat. We split up with John and Josh briefly here while they browsed Mitsukoshi. Tory and I ran into someone who was enjoying the ramen! He was so cute!

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Tory loves alpacas so she had to grab a photo with this cutie in Mitsukoshi.

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We caught back up with John and Josh as they were finishing their walk through Mitsukoshi, and we continued on to Morocco where everyone was dying to try the hummus fries.

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We got two orders between the four of us, and Tory and I also split a glass of sangria. I don’t know what I was expecting, but they were just practically spicy falafel. Not that that’s a bad thing, I just expected more. Also, for some reason they were one of the most expensive bites of the whole fest. $8 for falafel? Tory wanted some kind of dipping sauce to dip her fries in (tzatziki, hummus, chimichurri sauce, etc.)


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We crossed the Mediterranean over to France,where John and Josh wanted something from the France booth. I had my eyes set on a Grand Marnier slush! Tory was convinced I was going to find it too sweet since the first time I had one, we were eight countries into Drinking Around the World. Much to her surprise, it was not too sweet for me, and it really hit the spot on a warm day. Tory tried it and still thought it was too sweet though. We grabbed it and headed back to the corner of France that will eventually led to the Ratatouille ride. We sipped on it while watching the Skyliner, which was in cast member preview mode, soar over head.


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Not too long after standing there, we saw Aurora walk into the Gazebo in France to meet. There was nobody waiting. So, feeling slightly buzzed and sad for Aurora, I wandered over to say hello. Tory had my slush in her hands when we walked up. The cast member with Aurora reminded us that if Tory wanted to be in the picture as well, that we had to set our drink down off to the side. Tory noted that it made sense that Disney wouldn’t want alcohol in their photos with Disney princesses. The case member responded by saying, “Princesses are classy.” Tory loved that, and she started laughing and saying “And we definitely are not classy. Hahaha.” We chatted briefly with Aurora and she noting that we were wearing the same color.


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John and Josh had got their food, and we continued on towards England. We still had a few booths we wanted to hit and were running towards our Soarin’ FP+. In England, Tory and I opted for some liquid calories at Rose and Crown, which was packed to the gills like a true English pub. We were fairly quickly attended to. I got a Golden Fox (Half Boddingtons-Half Harp) and Tory ordered a Guinness. The Guinness was poured the proper way, which we loved! We met John and Josh out by the phone booths where they had grabbed some items from the Ireland booth. We spent a little while chatting and just soaking up the ambience and the beer.

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With beer still in hand, we headed to Canada to check out the Apple Orchard booth. John is a big fan of ciders, so before the trip, we knew this was a must-hit booth. The Apple Orchard was quite busy! John and Josh got in line and we wandered over to sample some flavored maple syrups. Knowing that this space is normally used for Oh! Canada, I was really impressed how they repurposed it. Although drinking on carpet felt odd. John arrived with his cider flight not too long later, and we chatted some more while enjoying some much needed air conditioning. Beers from Rose and Crown were a better idea in theory than in actuality on a hot afternoon, so it took us a while to finish them.

Our FP window had just opened so we headed over to Soarin’. We all agreed on the walk over that we would make Soarin’ our last stop for the afternoon, as we all needed a shower and break before our dinner ADR. Along the way, we passed by the Chocolate Studio booth with no line, so I very quickly grabbed the liquid nitrogen chocolate truffle. This was an absolute hit! Creamy and chilled, but not necessarily cold. I would consider it more of a mousse than a truffle, but whatever it is, I would eat again. And for under $5 it was a steal!


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With our FPs we walked right up to the Soarin’ merge point with no wait and then were quickly ushered down to the front row of Gate C. Soarin’ is not our favorite because they went and ruined a good thing in Soarin’ Over California. However, Josh really enjoyed himself, so I am really glad I was able to snag the FPs.

We split up at the bus stop where Tory and I had a very brief wait for a bus back to Coronado Springs.

Coming up: Where were we having dinner? Would we make it back to EPCOT for Illuminations?
 
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Stepping into the lobby for the first time is incredible. It doesn’t necessarily scream Disney, but it does feel luxurious and like a high-end hotel in a big city. The Spanish-inspired tones and patterns really come through and give it a sense of place other than generic luxury hotel. Already, we knew we had struck gold because this felt like a Deluxe resort. We were quickly greeted by a front desk agent, and to our surprise, they had a room ready for us. All before 9 AM! The cast member welcomed us to Coronado Springs, explained the layout and where all the best food and lounges were, and confirmed our magic bands were working before sending us on our way. We were totally not expecting to have a room ready, and were just planning on dropping off our luggage, but it was a welcome surprise.
That is great! The resort looks really lovely too. :)
Oh EPCOT, such a wonderful place! A true park in every sense of the word. We breezed through security, which was a shock compared to our last trip, and found ourselves quickly in front of the beautiful Spaceship Earth. John and Josh were already in the park, and we met up with them inside MouseGear. Everyone was hungry after not having a proper breakfast, so we made the decision, with 30 minutes until our first FP+ window closed at Spaceship Earth, to head to Les Halles for some pastries. I questioned if we had enough time, but tempted by the thought of fresh baked goods, Tory assured me that we would make it. We did make it! With two minutes to spare! At Les Halles, Tory and I grabbed a Roule Lard and a chocolate croissant.
Yum!
I stuck with the Green mission and Tory joined me. John wanted to see how intense Orange was and convinced Josh to join him. There really wasn’t much of a wait and so we nearly walked right into the briefing room. Once the preshow ended, the doors in front of us didn’t open. We waited for several minutes with just the background com chatter and no indication of what was going on. It was a little unnerving because the group is just stuck in there with no cast member.
That is a bit weird.
We were in the mood for a margarita, so we headed towards La Cava. However, one peek inside the Mexico pavilion, where we saw that the line for La Cava stretched all the way to the entrance to the pyramid, made us realize we needed to have some plans in place. Wandering wasn’t going to cut it today!
No wandering at F&W, especially on a weekend!
We then moved into Germany where Tory and I split the beer flight. We grabbed a standing table right next to the World Showcase Lagoon while John and Josh grabbed some items from the Germany booth. Despite the crowds, it truly was a beautiful day at EPCOT. I will never get tired of the view across the lagoon with Spaceship Earth looming in the background. Truly gorgeous. The beers were unmemorable except for the Schofferhofer that was way too sweet to be considered beer.
Love that view too. :goodvibes
We crossed the Mediterranean over to France,where John and Josh wanted something from the France booth. I had my eyes set on a Grand Marnier slush! Tory was convinced I was going to find it too sweet since the first time I had one, we were eight countries into Drinking Around the World. Much to her surprise, it was not too sweet for me, and it really hit the spot on a warm day. Tory tried it and still thought it was too sweet though. We grabbed it and headed back to the corner of France that will eventually led to the Ratatouille ride. We sipped on it while watching the Skyliner, which was in cast member preview mode, soar over head.
I love that area in the back where it is a bit more private and secluded.
Not too long after standing there, we saw Aurora walk into the Gazebo in France to meet. There was nobody waiting. So, feeling slightly buzzed and sad for Aurora, I wandered over to say hello. Tory had my slush in her hands when we walked up. The cast member with Aurora reminded us that if Tory wanted to be in the picture as well, that we had to set our drink down off to the side. Tory noted that it made sense that Disney wouldn’t want alcohol in their photos with Disney princesses. The case member responded by saying, “Princesses are classy.” Tory loved that, and she started laughing and saying “And we definitely are not classy. Hahaha.” We chatted briefly with Aurora and she noting that we were wearing the same color.
Love the picture!
 
Joining in! I loved your Honeymoon TR - I'm not just saying this, but it's one of my favorite TR's I've ever read on these boards! Excited to hear about your September trip :goodvibes
 
No wandering at F&W, especially on a weekend!

We definitely learned that lesson the hard way! We are very go with the flow travelers, but you have to have a game plan for F&W!

Joining in! I loved your Honeymoon TR - I'm not just saying this, but it's one of my favorite TR's I've ever read on these boards! Excited to hear about your September trip :goodvibes

Thank you so much for the kind words! I really enjoy writing these. It's a great way to relive the memories and share some opinions with folks who will understand! We will have the end of our EPCOT day up tonight, hopefully!
 
Day 2 - 9/21/19 - Princesses are Classy! - Continued

After a warm afternoon in the sun at EPCOT, a brief nap with some college football on in the background was much appreciated. Our ADR that evening was at Toledo, the new restaurant on the top floor of the Gran Destino Tower. Jaleo had also opened since our last trip, so we had to make a decision about which tapas dinner to have. At one point during the course of planning, we had both ADRs booked for back-to-back nights. We ended up deciding on Toledo, due to us being slightly more intrigued by the menu and the location.
With a 7:15 PM ADR, we left our room at 7:00 PM, and enjoyed a leisurely walk around our resort’s grounds. We hopped in a really cool elevator and found ourselves on the top floor of the Gran Destino Tower. We checked in and then were immediately drawn to the row of floor-to-ceiling windows on the far wall of Dahlia Lounge. The lounge was gorgeous and seemed like the perfect place to spend an evening, especially with the view! We wandered out on the patio to take in the view in the waning sunlight. You can see across the way to Hollywood Studios, the Skyliner, and other hotels further out in to Orlando. If you looked sharp, you could catch a glimpse of Slinky Dog!
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We didn’t have too much time to take it in, as just mere minutes later our table was ready. We were sat promptly at 7:15 PM. The first thing you notice when you walk into Toledo is the ceiling. It was a gorgeous, Art Nouveau stained glass ceiling that immediately made me feel like we were in a European train station. Then there are (fake?) trees at either end of the long dining room. This place was gorgeous! Despite not being a signature restaurant, it still felt rather upscale and we were glad we had time to go back to our room and change.
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John and Josh arrived a few minutes after we were seated and we were then greeted by our server. She took a few minutes to explain the slightly confusing menu. We had agreed that we wanted to do a tapas meal and order a bunch of appetizers. The tapas style plates were split up over three different sections of the menu. How are tapas different from appetizers? And how are both of those different from sides? We ordered drinks while trying to make sense of it all and figure out what we all wanted to share. I had ordered a glass of a Spanish red, and when our server came back to pour it, she spilled a little bit on the table. It really wasn’t a big deal at all, but she apologized profusely and then seemed flustered. She was then really flustered for the rest of our meal. Since the restaurant was still fairly new, we figured it might have just been a rough night. Tory, ever the gin lover, ordered the Gran Gin Tonic (Tanqueray Gin, House-made Saffron-Orange Tonic, Soda Water), which she loved!
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Since we ordered our meal tapas style, dishes came out as they were ready. On the whole, every item we got was good, and some were great. The true standout to me was the charred octopus! It had a perfect grill on it and, when paired with romesco and lentils, was truly phenomenal. We should have ordered another one of those! At the time, I said that was the best octopus I had ever had. I say at the time because two nights later, that would change!

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My other favorite dish was the savory churros. Warm and freshly fried, served with a slightly spicy dipping sauce, these were gone in a hurry!
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We also ended up ordering the Artisanal Manchego Cheese Vertical, a cheese board with 4 different ages of manchego cheese, the Heirloom Tomatoes, the 'Pan con Tomate' Tomato Bread, and the ‘Bravas' Potatoes.
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We did order one entree: the Plant Based ‘Seafood’. We were all intrigued by the thought of three different vegan presentations of seafood. It was definitely worth trying because it was really clever. You could have told me the fried calamari and crab cake were real seafood and I would have believed you! The flavors were good, and it looked fairly deceiving as well. However, the ‘scallops’ were really just seared mushrooms. While they were well-cooked, it was just large pieces of mushroom that didn’t taste like scallops at all.
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Over the meal, Josh told us about his recent trip to Portugal and some of the great food he had tried there. It was a very relaxed pace and there were certainly plenty of different dishes to try. Tapas is definitely more enjoyable in a larger group!
As we were finishing up our tapas, at around 8:30, Tory and I made the decision to not try and make it back for a 10 PM Illuminations, in favor of a good night of sleep. John and Josh did want to see it, so we told them that they should skip dessert and head over there. They did, and we joked that we were sending the kids back to the parks. It was a good idea to have them leave then, because our server disappeared for a while, and between getting the dessert menu, getting our dessert, and then finally paying the check, it was another 45 minutes. Our dessert was absolutely worth it though! We got the Toledo Tapas bar which consisted of a chocolate tart with 5 different toppings with flavors ranging from lemon to coffee. Tory and I split the bar into 5 and then split each section in half and got to have a fun little tasting with the dessert. It was super playful and the flavors were all sharp. The raspberry mousse might have been my favorite, but they all were delicious and mixed differently with the chocolate.
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All in all, it was a good meal. I would recommend this place to others and I would certainly eat here again. The menu is very large and there is certainly more to explore on it (the pork chops looked phenomenal!). It’s hard to really compare relative value, but this meal was cheaper per person than ‘Ohana, which is certainly something to consider. Couple that with the view and the atmosphere, and it's got the makings of a great date night spot!

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We had a leisurely digestion walk back to our room where we called it a night and slept quite soundly!

Coming up on Day 3: Lots of fun at our favorite park: Animal Kingdom, along with a lunch at Sanaa and an evening at Disney Springs!
 
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I'm so glad I just stumbled onto your trip report. I read your honeymoon trip as well. EPCOT and eating and drinking around the world is my absolute favorite thing to do. Sounds like you had an awesome day.
 

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